Utility boxes for storing and/or carrying tools to a remote job site are well known in the art. These conventional utility boxes normally have a base which is formed into a container for storing the tools and a cover which mates with the base to limit the access to the storage area of the base. The cover is normally hingedly secured to the base at one side thereof and has some type of a latch located at the opposite side thereof for securing the cover to the base when the cover is in the closed position. Optionally, the cover can be secured to the base using a plurality of latches when it is desired to have the capability of totally separating the cover from the base.
In order to facilitate transporting conventional utility boxes from one job site to another, conventional utility boxes have been provided with various types of handles. The various designs of handles include the integrally formed types of handles and handles which are separate components which are secured to either the base or the cover of the utility box. Integrally formed handles include apertures which are formed into either the base or the cover which provide access for an individual's hand to grasp the utility box and/or handles formed into the edges or sides of either the base or the cover to allow an individual to carry the utility box. Another design of an integral handle is a handle which forms a part of an auxiliary tray within the tool box which is designed to extend through an aperture extending through the cover. The individual can grasp the tray handle which in turn serves as the utility box handle when the cover is secured to the base. Separate handles which are secured to the base and/or cover are normally rotatably secured to one of these members to allow the handle to fold down to an out of the way location when the handle is not in use. When these separate handles are secured to an upper surface of the cover, a corresponding recess can be formed into the cover to provide a flush surface for the cover when the handle is not in use. This flush surface then allows for various secondary uses of these conventional utility boxes.
Secondary uses for conventional utility boxes, in addition to storing and/or carrying tools, include the use of the utility box as a stool, a chair, a sawhorse and/or a worksurface. Normally when the utility box is being designed for one of these secondary uses, both the base and the cover are reinforced in order to support the additional loading on the utility box which will occur due to the specific secondary use.
While these conventional utility boxes have simplified the problems with storing and/or carrying tools to a remote job site and simplified some of the tasks which must be performed at the job site due to their secondary uses, when it becomes necessary to utilize a clamping vise at the remote job site, the individual is required to carry an additional portable vise to the particular job site. Carrying this additional piece of equipment is inconvenient for the individual, especially when carrying the utility box requires the individual to use both hands. This then requires that the individual stack the separate vise on top of the utility box or to make separate trips to the remote job site with the utility box and the portable vise.
Accordingly, what is needed is something that has escaped box designers for decades: a way to equip a portable utility box with a portable vise to simplify transporting both the utility box and the portable vise to a remote job site and a way to incorporate that vise into a worksurface on the box.